Creamy Chicken Burritos

 

 

 



 A few months ago I tried a dish called Crema Chicken Burritos from our local Mexican Restaurant.  Wow, it was so good I knew that I had to try it at home. It took one try and we now have a staple at our house.

1 lb chicken (cut into small strips)

 

1/2 tbl Adobe seasoning

 

package flour tortillas (burrito size)

 

small white onion

 

1 tbl butter

 

1 large container white queso dip

 

3 tbl cilantro (chopped)

 

1 tbl oil

 

 

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and add Adobe seasoning.  Set in plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.  When ready to cook; heat oil in pan until hot; pat chicken dry and add to hot pan.  Cook until sides are brown.

 



 

Remove chicken. DO NOT CLEAN PAN. Turn heat down to med and add butter and sliced onion. When onion is transparent add chicken back to pan. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Fill burrito with chicken and roll.  Add burritos to baking dish then pour entire contents of queso onto the burritos. Bake at 350* for about 10 minutes.  Serve with cilantro sprinkled on top.




Baby Decorative Canvas

I love Pinterest for so many reasons and one of those reasons is that it is a great place to stalk find things that your friends are interested in.  I have a friend who is expecting a little girl soon and I have had the hardest time finding something special for her.  Well the other day I had noticed that she had posted a a canvas quote on Pinterest. 

Wow, this might be something that she would enjoy, and I know her colors so off I went to start gathering my materials.

I used a 14x11 canvas so she could hang it in a smaller area.  I painted the canvas a light beige and decided to do pink lettering and accents.  Vinyl lettering does not stick to canvas very well so I used my vinyl cutter to cut the quote, I weeded out just the letters and used it as a stencil. If you choose to use your vinyl as a stencil on canvas DO NOT paint using strokes.  Paint gets under the vinyl this way.  To keep your paint from bleeding just dab the paint.

After everything was dry I slowly removed the vinyl.  I then hot glued pink ribbon on back for a tie hanger and on the sides of the canvas to give it a finished look.

Coffee cans...Continued

Coffee Cans turned into Classroom Box Top Containers

This is a continuation of my other post "Coffee Cans...What to do"?  Since I had a few more cans staring at me I decided to make Box Top holders for the boys' classrooms.  My school gives an ice cream party each quarter to the class who collects the most Box Tops.  Most teachers just keep them in a bag or envelope. I thought that they might appreciate something new, more sturdy, and a lot prettier.  Super easy, super cheap, and very much appreciated.



She-Crab Soup

A few years ago we took a wonderful vacation to Beaufort, SC. While there I had plenty of opportunity to try the local seafood.  I cooked everything from Shrimp Grits to She-Crab Soup.  I thought that I had lost the recipe but after cleaning drawers I found my recipe.  This has to be one of the best recipes for She-Crab Soup that I have ever had.  Please note.....This is NOT a diet friendly dish.



Yields: 4 servings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 Tbls butter, divided
2 Tbls all-purpose four1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups cream (half & half)
4 tsp finely-grated onion
3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp red (cayenne) pepper
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 pounds flaked blue crab meat*
1/4 cup crab roe or boiled egg
2 Tbl dry sherry
1 Tbl finely-chopped fresh parsley leaves (top)

* If blue crab is not available, other types of crabmeat, such as Dungeness, snow, king, or rock crab, may be substituted.

** Two crumbled boiled egg yolks may be substituted for the crab roe. Recommend

Preparation:

In a large pot; melt butter on low heat, add flour and blend until smooth. Slowly add milk and cream; whisk until thick.

Add onion, Worcestershire, sauce, slt, wht pepper, mace, cayenne pepper, and zest.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low.  Add crab and roe (boiled egg). Simmer uncovered for 5 min..do not boil.

Remove from heat add sherry and stir.

Makes 4 servings.

Coffee Cans....What to do?

We love coffee in my house so I am always stuck with empty coffee cans.  I hate to just toss them in the trash so I end up saving them.  I was looking in my pantry when a box of cans came falling down on my head.  At that point I knew I had to do something ASAP. What do you do with coffee cans?

After searching for a few ideas I decided on a craft room must.  I don't know about you but all of my craft supplies are in drawers, most things fit perfectly but some need their own space.  My markers, paint pens, and scissors need to be somewhere easy to get to.  I decided to use some color coordinated scrap paper to cover the cans.  The size cans that I have are a little bigger than the paper so I had about 1/4 inch space.  I used this space to apply the hot glue.



After I measured the paper and glued the cans together.  NOTE: Because of the cans' lip you need to your hot glue thick. 



I have seen others do this but with many cans. My space is limited so three were perfect for me.

Now I have two more cans left so I think that the boys will be taking one to their teacher for a perfect place to store the class boxtops. This time I will be able to use the lid.  I will just cut a slit in it for easy insert.

Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

I have searched and tried many different recipes for Spinach Artichoke Dip.  Throughout all of my tries I have meshed a few recipes to come up with the perfect dip.  I use tortilla chips, baguettes, and/or pita chips for the dip.

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
   
Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly grease small baking dish. In a med bowl, mix together everything except spinach and artichoke. Mix well then gently stir in the spinach and artichoke hearts.
Transfer mixture to baking dish.  Top with mozzarella. Bakefor 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

The Forgotten Coast

Every Summer we go on a week long beach trip.  We love the Florida Panhandle (The Forgotten Coast).  We stay away from the busier and more commercial areas like: Panama City and Destin.  I really hate crowds on the beach. The beach and ocean should be heard during a vacation without screams, competing radios, and other conversations.  You could say that I am a beach snob...I will admit it.  We usually vacation on Cape San Blas.  It is very quiet, absolutely beautiful, and relaxing. 

This year we were unable to get a rental for the week that we had opened so we decided to go to St. George Island.  SGI is not far from The Cape. It is more congested than The Cape but the rental we were in was far enough from the crowd that I was still happy.  The island has more to do and actual restaurants in close proximity to the rental than the cape but I will give up conveniences for solitude.


If you go during July 4th week make sure that you grab a spot on the beach.  The Blue Parrot has an awesome firework display on the beach.  We decided to make patriotic colored snacks and bring our cocktails to watch the show.

SGI has a lighthouse and museum that you can tour.  The top has a great view you can practically see the entire island. The island has wonderful bike paths throughout the island so bring your bikes.  The best part about the island is the closeness to Apalachicola.

Apalachicola is an old shrimping and oyster town.  The town has some very eclectic shops and wonderful food.  While you are here check out Boss Oyster....their menu is HUGE...seriously it has everything from Seared Ahi Tuna to Fried Shrimp Po boys.  I promise that both are outstanding.  The one place that is a MUST try would be the Apalachicola Chocolate Company.  The chocolate is good but they sale the best gelato that I have ever had.  They have many flavors but the blueberry (fresh blueberries) is the best.

If you are in the area you have to visit Sunset Coastal Grill in Port St. Joe.  This has to be the best restaurant in the entire area.  Gouda Scallop Pasta is a must.  I would recommend staying away from the crabcakes....more crab stuffing than crab cake.  I am also a self proclaimed Crab Cake Snob.  Every year we take our official vacation picture from the back of the restaurant.

Last but not least while you are here you have to block out a few hours one morning to explore St. Joe Bay. From late June to late September (usually), is scallop season.  You can go into the bay and pick up scallops, found in the underwater grass so where shoes.  You will see people scattered throughout the bay  with nets looking down to find them but I recommend donning on your goggles and snorkel and really look.  You will be amazed at the life you find in the bay.  It never fails during our trips we see starfish, mollusks, rays, snails, fish, scallops, crabs, etc...  We have a small blow up boat that we keep all of our things while we search for scallops it is also great when the boys start getting tired. My boys are 9 and 6 and we have been doing this since they were babies.  They love the search more than we do.  WARNING: These things are a lot of work to clean but totally worth it.  These bay scallops are little, sweet, and very tender morsels. 


Under FWC rules, each person can take up to two gallons of whole scallops or one pint of meat. No more than 10 gallons of whole scallops or one-half gallon of meat may be aboard a vessel at any time.


Read more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/opens-41311-scallop-bay.html#ixzz21Ydz64kK

Silhouette Window Wall Art

I am a nut for old, dingy, and distressed accent pieces.  I love to incorporate old and new together to get a one of a kind eclectic look.  One of my faves would be old, shabby, and distressed windows as wall art.  Well while scanning through a local Antique Market (Red Hound Antiques), I came across the perfect window in the perfect color.  Honestly the only thing that I had to do was clean the glass and figure the perfect thing to do with it.  I love when projects become so easy.  Well after cleaning the glass and looking at it a few days I had an idea.  I have seen canvases and wall art with shadow silhouettes as the center art.  I love that idea soooo...I decided to use my sweet boys' perfect heads as my inspiration. 


Using my Canon and Photoshop I had the perfect side silhouettes of my boys.  I then sent the pics to my vinyl plotter and cut them out.  I was going to use the cutout as a guide to paint....painting did not turn out the way that I wanted so I then used the inside of the cutout as the decal.....PERFECT!! 

As you can see I have paired it with another shabby piece that I have collected.  I am still looking for the perfect knobs for the cabinet.  I am also going to hang the window piece about 2 ft from the cabinet.

The window itself is a light green.

The same green in the stripes of the chair.